Six @MizzouSwimDive Swimmers Earn Individual Berths to Women's NCAAs
3/6/2019 10:44:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
OFFICIAL PSYCH SHEET | INVITES BY SCHOOL
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Six members of the Mizzou women's swimming team earned invitations to the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, the NCAA announced on Wednesday (March 6).
Seniors Kylie Dahlgren (Victoria, Minn.), Courtney Evensen (Golden Valley, Minn.) and Annie Ochitwa (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), juniors Haley Hynes (Lee's Summit, Mo.) and Jennifer King (Glasgow, Scotland) and sophomore Sarah Thompson (Collierville, Tenn.) will represent the Tigers at the Championships, March 20-23, at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.
Missouri is also eligible to swim four relays: the 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay. The Tigers' relay-only swimmers include sophomores Sammie Jo Porter (Flower Mound, Texas) and Emily Snyder (Canton, Ga.) and freshmen Kayla Jones (St. Charles, Ill.) and Megan Keil (Derby, Kan.)
Mizzou's divers will vie for NCAA Championship bids next week at the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships, March 11-13, in Austin, Texas.
Ochitwa earned the fourth NCAA invite of her career, as she earned one last year with the Tigers and garnered berths in her freshman and sophomore seasons at Arizona. The senior made the cut in three different events, and is seeded ninth in the 100 fly, 13th in the 100 fly and 16th in the 50 free.
Last season, Ochitwa claimed All-America first team honors in the 100 fly, as well as three honorable mention honors as part of Tiger relays. She also earned one first team and one honorable mention accolade as a freshman at Arizona in 2016.
A perfect three-for-three in Championships berth is Hynes, who punched her NCAA bid in the 100 back and 50 free. Hynes enters the meet seeded ninth in the 100 back and 23rd in the 50 free. She took home All-America honorable mention honors in the 100 back a year ago after a 13th-place finish, and swam on two honorable mention relays as well.
A quartet of Tigers claimed the second NCAA berths of their career, in Dahlgren, Evensen, King and Thompson.
Dahlgren made the in both the 200 IM and 100 back, thanks to strong swims at Missouri's NCAA Qualifier last weekend. The senior is seeded 33rd in the 200 IM and 37th in the 100 back, and is eligible to swim the 200 back as well. In her first NCAAs last year, she earned finishes of 28th in the 200 IM and 30th in the 200 back.
Evensen secured a bid in the 1650 free for the second consecutive season. She checks in as the 31st seed in the mile with a season-best time of 16:09.08. The senior is also eligible to compete in the 500 free at the Championships.
Also earning bids in two events was Thompson, with an invites in the 100 back. The sophomore, who claimed a berth in the 50 free a year ago, is the No. 14 seed in the 100 back and 38th in the 50 free after missing an invite in that event by a hundredth of a second. As a freshman a year ago, she took home All-America honorable mention accolades as part of two Tiger relays.
King added her second NCAA berth and first since her freshman season in 2017. Thanks to a big swim at the recent Southeastern Conference Championships, King claimed a bid in the 200 back, where she enters as the 28th seed. The junior, who is also able to swim the 100 back and 200 IM at NCAAs, placed 33rd in the 200 back at the 2017 Championships.
2018 NCAA WOMEN'S SWIMMING QUALIFIERS
Invited Event (Ranking and qualifying time in parenthesis)
Relays
200 Free Relay (10th, 1:28.09)
400 Free Relay (14th, 3:14.48)
200 Medley Relay (9th, 1:35.62)
400 Medley Relay (14th, 3:31.30)
Kylie Dahlgren
200 IM (33rd, 1:56.57)
100 Back (37th, 52.46)
Courtney Evensen
1650 Free (31st, 16:09.08)
Haley Hynes
100 Back (9th, 51.24)
50 Free (23rd, 22.13)
Jennifer King
200 Back (28th, 1:53.42)
Annie Ochitwa
100 Fly (9th, 51.25)
100 Free (13th, 47.60)
50 Free (16th, 21.90)
Sarah Thompson
100 Back (14th, 51.66)
Players Mentioned
